Arab media faces challenges

The annual forum organised by the Arabic daily Al Ittihad is a distinguished professional and academic gathering, which coincided this year with the 40th anniversary of the newspaper.

To keep pace with the rapid developments in print media, the newspaper was re-launched with a new look by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

The importance of this year's forum stems from the changes caused by the global financial crisis on one hand, and the developments in information technology and media, including journalism, on the other.

The global financial meltdown imposed new circumstances and complicated challenges, especially with regard to revenues of the media sector.

Decline

Advertising expenditure, which is an important revenue source for all media, including those of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states and the Arab world, has dropped by 30 per cent. It reached $8.3 billion (Dh30.5 billion) in the Arab world in 2008, which represents only 2 per cent of the global advertising total.

While more than 100 banks have announced bankruptcy as of last weekend as a result of the crisis, the repercussions of which are still ongoing although at a lower pace, over 10 newspapers and magazines have also shut down.

These include the weekly Washington Post and daily The Rocky Mountain News. Also, more than 15,000 journalists have been made redundant and the losses of leading international newspapers such as the New York Times and the Tribune Group have mounted.

At the GCC level, media faced other difficulties, besides low income, which led to reducing expenditure, suspending bonuses and terminating the employment of about 5 per cent of its workforce.

If the repercussions of the crisis were temporary, and most media outlets managed to cope with them in different ways, the most difficult challenge facing the print media is the fast and overwhelming progress in the digital domain, which may reduce the revenues of the print media in the medium and long term.

This would require the print media to develop its resources through adopting new digital means besides the circulation of their printed copies, which is what international media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is trying to do.

He recently set up a lobby of leading international newspapers from Australia to Europe and the US, which is trying to impose charges on readers who read the websites of these newspapers.

This initiative would require the co-operation of all major newspapers, some of which already started levying the fee, such as the Wall Street Journal.

The GCC and Arab press is also expected to adopt this trend, since they face the same challenges.

Through this, we can feel the depth of the latest and urgent issues discussed at the annual forum, which not only discussed them but proposed solutions.

These proposals can help overcome financial and technical challenges facing the print press at the time being. Among these future proposals is the adoption of a publisher's work strategy, taking into consideration the major impacts of the development of information technology and media on the print press, which may not be excluded.

Solutions

These developments must be utilised to combine the role of the print media and the vigour of the digital media, since it would not be easy to sideline the printed format.

This will allow the development of financial resources of the press in general, and help it overcome challenges posed by digital technology, which has far less cost overheads.

The forum highlighted the latest developments and challenges. Some of these are temporary like the financial crisis, which is showing signs of receding, as evident in the revival of advertising expenditure with the start of the tourism and exhibition season in the GCC.

On the other side, future challenges such as the digital media, which is free at present and may remain cheap in the future, require publishers and newspaper owners to scrutinise the proposals made at the forum and come out with ideas and concepts to take the industry forward.

Dr. Mohammad Al Asoomi is a UAE economic expert.